The invention relates to the field of telecommunications, and particularly to wireless communication networks. Among other areas, it has applicability to networks such as GPRS and IDEN, and networks according to the IEEE 802.11 standard.
In a typical communications architecture, users are coupled for communication with one or more nodes, such as base stations, servers, etc., which, in turn, are coupled for communication with public communication networks such as the Internet, and which support technology coverage areas within the network. Communications between such users pass through their respective base stations, and across the public networks. Such users employ mobile equipment, such as laptop or other portable computers, cellular telephones, etc.
A given technology coverage area, is characterized in terms of its network technology. Within such network technology, there will be provided a respective menu of available services and operating parameters. A service provider supporting a given network technology will have access to a lot of data regarding the services provided to its customers. Much of the data will pertain to the supported network technology. The service provider accesses the data by monitoring the various system infrastructure components at the base stations and elsewhere in the network.
Service providers conventionally have used specialized test equipment and performed “drive” tests to measure network performance both inside and outside of their network. Service providers conduct surveys of their customers to understand, for instance, the service level and performance quality provided under other network technologies. Test labs are also set up to simulate the expected environments. However, these methods have had the drawback that they cannot directly measure customer experience.
Service providers conventionally have very limited or no visibility into the performance of the network and services being used by their customers. This can be an important drawback for the service providers, particularly when they begin to roll out services under new networking technologies. At such times, the service providers need information on such performance, in order to handle problems, and otherwise to be responsive to their customers' needs.
This drawback also becomes important as customer equipment gains the capability to “roam,” i.e. to move from place to place, into technology coverage areas that support network different technologies offered by the service provider or different technologies from those supported by the service provider. Such other technology coverage areas might employ networking technologies that are different from the service provider's technology, or otherwise outside of the service provider's control. Because of the different technology, the service provider conventionally has little or no insight as to the level of service the customer is receiving in the other technology coverage area.
For instance, a customer of the service provider might use a GPRS mobile phone that is capable of switching between the service provider's GPRS network and an IEEE 802.11x standards-based wireless local area network (LAN). The customer might want to use his/her mobile equipment at a wireless hot-spot, or at the customer's own home located outside the service provider's technology coverage area. The service provider's inability to obtain information directly reflective of the system's performance, as the user experiences it, disadvantageously limits the service provider's ability to provide the customer with effective support.